My platform, Healing Hearts, Helping Minds, advocates and raises awareness for all aspects of mental health.
Among the many organizations I align myself with and fundraises for, I am honored to be a member and ambassador for NAMI, the National Alliance on Mental Illness, South Suburbs of Chicago branch.
My mission to destigmatize mental health and urge people to change their mindframe around what it is and how to talk about it. “Education reduces the stigma, and it just takes one person to open that door - to not hide or feel ashamed of what they’re going through. If you open that door, others will open theirs too.”
Education starts with recognizing symptoms, starting conversations and getting families to work together, to be proactive in helping their loved ones. I know the importance of this all too well, when I lost a close family member to depression-related suicide at a time when mental health was not a topic that was being openly discussed.
“It’s happening to people more than you think…people around you, close to you. My goal is to help people recognize the signs and most importantly, urge them to reach out.”
Jennifer graduated from Illinois State University with a major in social work and minor in psychology and went on to receive her Masters from St Xavier University in Chicago, in counseling psychology.
Her career path has led her to help people and families at the now shuttered Tinley Park Mental Health Center, Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, IL, and a social worker at Catholic Charities, where she was assigned to children and family cases, monitoring wellness visits and foster care progress reports.
